Lantana camara cultivar xe2x80x98Robpatdeexe2x80x99.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Lantana plant, botanically known as Lantana camara, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Robpatdee.
The new Lantana is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Grain Valley, Mo. The objective of the breeding program is to create freely-flowering Lantanas with attractive flower coloration.
The new Lantana originated from a cross made by the Inventor in July, 1997 of the Lantana cultivar xe2x80x98Robpathalxe2x80x99, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,063, as the female, or seed parent, with an unidentified Lantana selection as the male, or pollen parent. The new Lantana was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Grain Valley, Mo., on the basis of its vigorous growth habit and attractive flower coloration.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Grain Valley, Mo., since January, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Lantana are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Robpatdee have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment and culture such as temperature and light intensity, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Robpatdeexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Robpatdeexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Lantana cultivar:
1. Upright and outwardly spreading plant habit; uniformly mounded plant form.
2. Vigorous growth habit; rapid growth rate.
3. Large leaves and long internodes.
4. Fragrant foliage.
5. Freely flowering habit.
6. Flowers that are red purple initially opening to a pale yellow with darker yellow centers and subsequently red purple with orange centers.
Plants of the new Lantana are comparable to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Robpathal. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Grain Valley, Mo., plants of the new Lantana differed from plants of the cultivar Robpathal in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Lantana were more vigorous and faster growing than plants of the cultivar Robpathal.
2. Plants of the new Lantana were more upright than plants of the cultivar Robpathal.
3. Plants of the new Lantana had longer internodes than plants of the cultivar Robpathal.
4. Plants of the new Lantana and the cultivar Robpathal differed in flower coloration.
Plants of the new Lantana differ from plants of the male parent, the unidentified Lantana selection, and other Lantana cultivars known to the Inventor primarily in the new Lantana""s unique combination of uniformly mounded plant habit, flower coloration, and freely-flowering habit.